What I Would Do If I Had Persistent Headaches

A headache every once in a while is one thing.

But if I started having headaches repeatedly, or noticed that a headache just wasn’t going away, I wouldn’t only ask:

What can I take to make my headache stop?

I’d start asking:

Why might my body be creating this signal in the first place?

Because a headache is a symptom.

And when something becomes persistent, I want to understand the pattern rather than continually trying to quiet the signal.

First, I Would Pay Attention to the Pattern

Before reaching for anything, I’d get curious.

• When did the headaches start?

• Where am I feeling them?

• Are they always in the same place?

• What time of day do they happen?

• Do I wake up with them?

• Do they happen when I haven’t eaten?

• Am I drinking enough water?

• How much caffeine am I having, and has that changed?

• How am I sleeping?

• Where am I in my menstrual cycle?

• Am I clenching my jaw?

• Is my neck tight?

• Does one of my shoulders bother me?

• Have I been spending more time looking down at my phone or sitting at my computer?

• Has my stress level changed?

• Is there anything else happening in my body at the same time?

I’m looking for clues.

Not because every headache has an obvious explanation, but because patterns give us information.

Then I Look at the Structural Picture

As a chiropractor, this is naturally one of the first places my brain goes.

But I’m not only checking the neck.

I’m looking at the entire structural picture.

• How are the sutures of the skull?

• What is happening through the cervical spine?

• How much tension am I carrying through my neck, shoulders, jaw, and upper back?

• Does one shoulder bother me?

• Am I clenching or bracing?

• How are my abdominal and core muscles functioning?

• Do they need additional support or strengthening?

And I’m checking the tailbone.

Has there been an old injury or something new that needs attention?

The body doesn’t function as a collection of isolated pieces. If I’m evaluating persistent headaches, I want to know what is happening throughout the structural system rather than focusing exclusively on the location of the pain.

Certain headaches can originate from structures in the neck. Other structural relationships I assess, including the skull sutures, core, shoulders, and tailbone, are part of my broader chiropractic approach and aren’t established as universal causes of headaches.

The important question for me is:

Is there something elsewhere in the structural system that needs my attention?

Hydration + Minerals Are High on My List

Before I create an elaborate protocol, I’m also checking some very basic things.

• Am I hydrated?

• Am I getting enough minerals?

• Do I need electrolytes?

• Have I been sweating more than usual?

• If I’m sweating heavily, am I adequately replacing fluids and electrolytes?

• Have I been outside in the heat more?

• Have I eaten enough today?

• Am I getting adequate protein and nourishment?

• Have I gone too long without eating?

• Has my caffeine intake changed?

Headaches can occur with dehydration, and significant sweating can mean losing both water and electrolytes.

Especially if I’ve been sweating more than usual, I’m not only thinking:

Drink more water.

I’m asking whether my body also needs minerals and electrolytes replaced.

Sometimes the foundational things deserve our attention before we start looking for something complicated.

Blood Sugar Is Part of That Conversation

I’d also pay attention to how I feel between meals.

• Do I become shaky?

• Irritable?

• Lightheaded?

• Extremely hungry?

• Do I crash in the afternoon?

• Does eating change the headache?

That doesn’t automatically mean blood sugar is causing my headaches.

But it gives me another piece of information to consider.

If something consistently happens around meals, I want to understand that pattern rather than simply reaching for something for the pain.

I Would Think About Blood Health Too

This is another piece I wouldn’t overlook, especially if headaches were happening alongside fatigue, weakness, dizziness, shortness of breath, or changes in my overall energy.

I’d think about iron status, hemoglobin, red blood cells, B12, folate, and other factors involved in healthy blood formation and oxygen delivery.

And this is an area where I wouldn’t rely on muscle testing alone.

If there were reasons to suspect something was off, I’d want appropriate labs and medical evaluation.

Sometimes the most intuitive thing we can do is recognize when we need more information.

I Wouldn’t Overlook the Thyroid

The thyroid is another system I think about when headaches or migraines are persistent, particularly when other symptoms are showing up alongside them.

I might ask:

• How is my energy?

• Am I unusually tired?

• Am I noticing changes in my tolerance to heat or cold?

• Has my digestion changed?

• Have I noticed changes in my hair, skin, weight, menstrual cycle, heart rate, or sleep?

• Does something about the bigger picture make me want to look more closely at thyroid function?

I wouldn’t assume that persistent headaches automatically mean there’s a thyroid issue.

But if the rest of the picture gives me reason to investigate, I don’t overlook it.

And this is another area where appropriate thyroid testing can give us valuable information when indicated.

Then I Look at the Emotional + Metaphysical Thyroid Patterns

If the thyroid comes forward as an area I want to explore, I don’t stop with the physical body.

I’ll also muscle test the emotional and metaphysical patterns I associate with the thyroid within my energetic work.

I may check for:

• Phobias.

• Paranoias.

• Fear-based patterns.

And from a metaphysical perspective, I may check for what I refer to within my work as psychic attacks or other outside energetic influences affecting the field.

I might ask:

• Is there a fear pattern my body is holding onto?

• Is there something I’m perceiving as a threat even though I’m currently safe?

• Am I carrying fear that doesn’t belong to me?

• Is there something within my energetic field that needs to be addressed or cleared?

These are metaphysical concepts within my personal energetic framework. They aren’t established medical explanations for thyroid dysfunction, headaches, or migraines.

I don’t use an energetic finding to decide that I’ve discovered the medical cause of someone’s headache.

It’s another layer I explore alongside the physical body.

Hormones Might Be Part of the Pattern

For women especially, I’d also pay attention to timing.

• Do the headaches consistently happen before my period?

• Around ovulation?

• During my cycle?

• Did they change with pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, or another hormonal transition?

• Have I recently changed anything involving hormones?

Again, I wouldn’t automatically label a headache as hormonal.

But timing matters.

The more consistently something follows a pattern, the more useful that information becomes.

I Would Look at My Environment

Sometimes we become so focused on what’s happening inside the body that we forget to look around us.

• Has something changed in my environment?

• Am I spending hours under bright lights?

• Am I staring at screens more than usual?

• Have I been exposed to strong fragrances?

• Is the air quality different?

• Could seasonal allergies or sinus pressure be part of the picture?

• Have I been traveling?

• Am I sleeping somewhere different?

• Is there something in my home or workspace that seems to correlate with when the headaches occur?

If my headache repeatedly appears in one environment and improves when I leave it, I’m paying attention to that.

Then There Is the Emotional + Energetic Layer

Once I’ve looked at the physical picture, I also leave room for the emotional and energetic one.

I might ask:

• What feels like too much right now?

• Where am I carrying pressure?

• What am I overthinking?

• Am I trying to mentally solve something that isn’t mine to solve?

• Am I carrying someone else’s urgency?

• Where am I pushing myself beyond my capacity?

Sometimes I find something.

Sometimes I don’t.

I don’t need every headache to have an emotional explanation.

But if my body is repeatedly getting my attention, I’m willing to listen on more than one level.

The Metaphysical Layer I Might Explore

I may also muscle test whether there’s a metaphysical or energetic pattern that feels relevant.

These aren’t established medical causes of headaches. They’re concepts within the energetic framework I use in my work.

I might explore:

• Where am I putting too much pressure on myself?

• Am I stuck in my head instead of feeling what is happening in my body?

• Am I resisting something?

• Am I trying to control an outcome?

• Is there information, energy, or stimulation that feels like too much for my system?

I may also check whether I’m carrying energy that doesn’t belong to me or whether something within my energetic field needs attention.

The purpose isn’t to decide:

I have a headache, therefore this energetic pattern must be the cause.

It’s another layer I can explore while still taking the physical symptom seriously.

Sometimes Where I Find the Priority Isn’t Where the Pain Is

This is probably one of the biggest things I want people to understand about how I approach headaches.

The symptom is in the head.

But that doesn’t mean the only place I’m looking is the head.

I may end up looking at:

• The skull and cervical spine.

• The shoulders.

• The core and abdominal muscles.

• The tailbone.

• Hydration and minerals.

• Blood sugar.

• Blood health.

• Thyroid function.

• Hormones.

• Sleep.

• The nervous system.

• The environment.

• Emotions.

• The energetic field.

And I’m not assuming that every one of those areas is involved.

I’m asking questions until I better understand what this particular body may be asking for.

Remedies I Might Test + Consider

Once I’ve looked at the bigger picture, I may muscle test different remedies based on what my body seems to be asking for.

I’m not automatically taking everything below, and I’m not assuming that everyone with headaches needs the same support.

Energetix Thyropath
One I may muscle test when the thyroid is coming forward as an area that needs additional support.

Energetix Core Feverfew
One I may consider when I’m looking for botanical support. Feverfew has been studied for migraine prevention, although the research is mixed, so I still look at the individual pattern rather than assuming every headache needs feverfew.

NET #5 or NET #9
Depending on what I’m finding emotionally and energetically, I may muscle test one of these NET remedies as part of the broader support I’m giving my system.

LotusWei Divine Truth
One I may reach for when the emotional or energetic pattern feels connected to expression, communication, or something I haven’t been allowing myself to say.

LotusWei Sacred Body
Another flower essence I may consider when I’m thinking about the energetic side of clearing, releasing, and supporting my relationship with my physical body.

Inflammation + Pain Support I Might Consider

Sometimes I’m also looking for something to support me while I’m figuring out the bigger pattern.

Apex Energetics Turmero Active
One I may muscle test when I’m thinking about additional nutritional support around the body’s inflammatory response.

Energetix Relief-Tone
A homeopathic option I may muscle test when pain is part of what I’m experiencing. Energetix specifically lists headaches among its traditional homeopathic uses, while also noting those claims are based on traditional homeopathic practice rather than accepted medical evidence.

Energetix Inflamma-Tone
Another homeopathic remedy I may test when the overall pattern makes me think about inflammation. Its manufacturer includes headaches among its traditional homeopathic symptom indications; these homeopathic claims aren’t established medical evidence.

MediHerb Boswellia
An herbal option I may consider when I’m thinking about supporting a healthy inflammatory response and overall comfort.

But even if something helps me feel better, I still want to understand why the headaches keep happening.

Pain support and investigation don’t have to be either/or.

I can support myself while I’m uncomfortable and still ask:

• What is creating this pattern?

• What has changed?

• What needs additional support?

• Is there something here that needs further evaluation?

I Wouldn’t Automatically Reach for More

I don’t want to keep stacking remedies onto a symptom without understanding what I’m responding to.

Maybe I need water and electrolytes.
Maybe I need minerals or nourishment.
Maybe my neck or another part of my structural system needs attention.
Maybe I need to strengthen and better support my core.
Maybe my body needs sleep.
Maybe my thyroid, hormones, or blood health warrant further evaluation.
Maybe my nervous system needs less stimulation.
Maybe there’s an emotional or energetic pattern I want to explore.
And maybe the headache needs medical evaluation.

The support depends on the pattern.

Persistent Headaches Deserve Attention

This is one symptom where I think it’s especially important not to normalize something simply because you’ve learned to live with it.

If headaches are new, persistent, increasingly frequent, changing in character, or interfering with your life, I’d want to understand why.

And certain headache symptoms need urgent medical attention, including a sudden extremely severe headache or a headache accompanied by symptoms such as weakness or numbness, difficulty speaking, confusion, fainting, significant vision changes, fever with a stiff neck, or following a significant head injury.

Listening to your body doesn’t mean assuming you can solve everything yourself.

Sometimes listening means recognizing:

This is different. I need someone to evaluate this.

I Want to Understand the Signal

If I were having persistent headaches, my goal wouldn’t simply be to become better at making them disappear.

I’d want to understand what changed.

• What happens before them?

• What makes them better?

• What makes them worse?

• What else is happening at the same time?

• What does my physical body need?

• What does my nervous system need?

• Is there anything emotionally or energetically asking for my attention?

• And is there something here that needs further evaluation?

Because when the body repeatedly sends the same signal, I think it’s worth getting curious about why.

I don’t want to spend all of my energy silencing the signal before I’ve taken the time to listen to what it may be telling me.

XOXO,

Dr. Elizabeth + Luna

The products and practices shared here are examples from my personal wellness approach and are provided for educational purposes only.

They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent illness.

Seek appropriate medical care for severe, concerning, persistent, or worsening symptoms, and consult an appropriate healthcare professional before using products for children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, with medications, or with existing health conditions.

Where to Find Additional Support

If you’re looking for remedies to support the patterns that may accompany headaches or migraines, you can explore the flower essences I use through my LotusWei affiliate link.  I receive a small commission when you purchase through this link, at no additional cost to you.

You can also create an account through my Fullscript or Doctor Supplement Store (Registration Code: EA4258) dispensaries to explore the other remedies and nutritional support I use in my practice.

As always, what is appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another. I personally use body awareness and muscle testing to help determine what support may be appropriate for me rather than assuming everyone with headaches or migraines needs the same protocol.